The Papago ceremony of víkita

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vol.3 INDIAN NOTES

no-4 TO MONOGRAPHS

Edited by F. W. Hodge

NMATREF

VOL. Ill IKL^M No. 4

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

THE PAPAGO CEREMONY OF
VIKITA

BY

EDWARD H. DAVIS

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

HEYE FOUNDATION

1920

This series of Indian Notes and Mono-
graphs is devoted primarily to the publica-
tion of the results of studies by members of
the staff of the Museum of the American
Indian, Heye Foundation, and is uniform
with Hispanic Notes and Monographs,
published by the Hispanic Society of
America, with which organization this
Museum is in cordial cooperation.

Only the first ten volumes of Indian
Notes and Monographs are numbered.
The unnumbered parts may readily be deter-
mined by consulting the List of Publications
issued as one of the series.

INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS

Edited by F. W. Hodge

VOL. Ill

No. 4

A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES

THE PAPAGO CEREMONY OF
viKITA

BY

EDWARD H. DAVIS

NEW YORK

MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

HEYE FOUNDATION

1920

THE PAPAGO CEREMONY
OF VIKITA

BY

EDWARD H. DAVIS

INTRODUCTION

THIS account of the fiesta of Vikita
is based on personal observations
among the Papago of Sonora,
Mexico, in the summer of 1920.
The legend of " Montezuma'' was related
by Kia/had (Rainbow), a Papago living
three miles north of the international
boundary, and was interpreted by Joseph
Menager.

The " Montezuma" herein referred to
must not be confounded with the personage
of the same name so prominent in the annals
of Mexico at the time of the conquest, but,
like other sedentary people in our South-
west, the Papago have adopted the name
through the Spaniards, and have applied
it to one of their culture deities.

Edward H. Davis.

INDIAN NOTES

157

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THE PAPAGO CEREMONY OF
VIKITA

By Edward H. Davis
ANY years ago a great flood visited

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this country, inundating the whole
region except the mountains, to
which the people fled for safety.
When the water subsided and the land was
again dry, a large pool remained near
Quitovaquita, Sonora, in which lived a
great monster of which the people stood in
deadly fear, for he was declared to eat
human beings. He had the power to fasci-
nate any man or woman who came in sight,
and to draw them irresistibly toward him,
then swallowing them alive. If any one
had the temerity to peek at him even from
the top of the mountain overlooking the
pool, the monster instantly drew him down,
in spite of his utmost power to resist, and
consumed him.

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INDIAN NOTES

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P A P A G 0

The terrified people tried to discover some
means to rid themselves of this monster,
who was gradually devouring the inhabit-
ants of the neighboring villages, so they
called a great council to plan for the destruc-
tion of the terrible menace. Unable to
make any plan themselves, they sent a run-
ner to Montezuma (Ehtoy), their great
deity or hero, to come to their assistance.
He made a sharp knife of obsidian and con-
sented to kill the monster. As he started,
he said to his wife: "If I kill, I will send up
a white cloud; if not, I will send up a black
cloud, and you will know." He climbed to
the top of the mountain, and when the
monster saw him, he drew him down and
swallowed him. Montezuma went up and
down, inside the monster, trying to find a
way of escape, but without success. He
first tried the head, but found no opening;
then he tried the fundament, but found it
was closed. Several times he traveled up
and down the monster, but could find no
way of escape. Then he took his knife and
began to cut and hack until he had loosened
the heart of the monster; then he cut an

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INDIAN NOTES

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VI KIT A CEREMONY

161

opening in the creature's ribs, and escaped,
carrying the heart with him. He called in
a loud voice to all the villagers, far and
near, and when they heard him, he sent up
the white cloud of victory.

The monster thrashed and threw his
great body around until, in his dying agony,
he had splashed all the water out of the
pool, since which time there has been no
water in that place. Then Montezuma
took the heart and cut it in two pieces,
paring each of them down until he had made
two round objects about the size of a man's
fist. He made one to represent a male,
and the other a female. He then prepared
a great fiesta, and all the people came from
far and near to celebrate the death of the
monster. Montezuma then instructed the
people how to care for the hearts, how to
guard them and to make fiestas for them
each year. From that time the hearts have
been looked upon as saints or idols which
can intercede for them with the higher
powers. A soft deerskin bag was made and
filled with the soft downy feathers of the
eagle, and upon these the hearts were laid,

AND MONOGRAPHS

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162

PAPAGO

and the bag closed so that no human eye
might thereafter see them. To this day,
with possibly one or two exceptions, no
person has ever seen the hearts. The bag
was kept in a Papago medicine basket, made
of palmetto fiber, which in turn, together
with all the wrappings and ceremonial para-
phernalia, was placed in two large ollas, then
sealed up and hidden in a secret cave in the
mountains. Many years ago an Indian
with an evil mind broke in and stole the
male heart, so that only the female heart
remains.

Manuel Ortega, an old Papago Indian,
with whom the writer stayed, said that at
one time he happened to be near when the
keeper of the heart was rearranging or
changing the eagle-feathers used as a bed
for the heart. Becoming entangled in the
feathers, the keeper pulled the heart out of
the bag, and it fell to the ground. Ortega
saw the heart before the keeper could return
it to the bag, and as nearly as he could
remember, it appeared to be a round, green-
ish stone about as large as a baseball. The
Indians say they have sometimes heard the

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VIKITA CEREMONY

163

voice of the male heart calling from the
hills at night, and whenever they have
tried to follow, it has always eluded them.
Each year, at full moon, in the month of
July, the basket, with all the ceremonial
trappings, is brought forth by the keeper,
who is an old Papago woman, sister of the
man who has charge of it, and she watches
over it during the whole ceremony. At the
conclusion, the man in charge opens the
basket, inserts one hand in the bag, putting
the other hand over the opening to prevent
his seeing the heart, turns it over, then
withdraws his hand and closes the opening,
replacing the bag in the basket, which he
lashes down with deerskin thongs. When
the keeper grows old and realizes that he
is about to die, he appoints a successor.

The people for many miles around make
an annual pilgrimage to the village of
Quitovaquita, situated twenty-five miles
south of the boundary line,, in Sonora, to
pay honor to the sacred relic, and to pray
for belessings which it grants, such as plenty
of rain, good crops, health, and long life
for each family. Any neglect of this pil-

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PAPAGO

grimage and ceremony may entail floods,
drought, sickness, even death. To avoid
these the people travel many miles, with
teams or on horseback, under a blazing sun
or in rainstorms, to participate in the cere-
mony. The place where the monster lived
covers an area of two or three hundred acres
of whitish earth or calcareous material,
which the Indians claim to be the remains of
the flesh of the monster. Below the surface
are massses of immense bones. Quitova-
quita is surrounded by tropical desert vege-
tation of palo verde, mesquite, palo fierro,
giant or saguaro cactus, pitahaya or organ
cactus, and other desert growth. It con-
sists of twenty or thirty one-story houses,
built of adobe or of stone imbedded in mud.
In the center of the village is a charco, or
large pool, which is fed by a number of
springs and furnishes water for the village,
and drinking and wading places for burros,
horses, and cattle. When the pool is filled,
the water is used to irrigate the gardens of
the villages. During the period of the fiesta
the village is thronged with visiting Indians,
and those who cannot find accommoda-

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INDIAN NOTES

OAVIS— PAPAGO CEREMONY

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tion in the houses, camp near the pool
The writer was fortunate in having the
opportunity of visiting Quitovaquita during
a fiesta, as the guest of Joseph Menager,
who has a ranch near the border, and who
speaks fluently both the Spanish and
Papago languages.

We reached the village at 8 o'clock in the
morning, and stopped at the house of the
chief, whose Spanish name is Manuel
Ortega. We went a half mile into the
desert to the grounds where the ceremony
was to be held, and met a number of the
men who were to participate. Hanging on
a small shelter were the ceremonial trap-
pings that later were to be used during the
fiesta. They consisted of deerskin masks
that fitted over the head, the fronts of which
were pierced by two holes for the eyes, and
from the lower edges hung long fringes.
Sashes of bright-colored fabric, necklaces
composed mostly of blue-glass beads inter-
spersed with short lengths of shell beads,
bunches of eagle-feathers, robes, anklets
girdled with cocoons filled with fine sand,
and girdles of deerskin, suspended from

AND MONOGRAPHS

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PAPAGO

which were several bells and sea-shells
strung on deerskin thongs.

In the afternoon of August 4, Manuel
Ortega, aided by all the other house-owners,
made four small piles of sand in front of
his house, and later two men, wearing deer-
skin masks with feathers, and girdles with
jingling shells and bells, came to the house,
headed by a leader and followed by a crowd
of men and boys. The leader placed pinches
of cornmeal on each pile of sand, and a
bunch of medicine-feathers on one of the
piles. Four times he put the pinches of
meal around, and then one of the men shot
a small arrow into one of the sand-piles. A
pail of figs was presented to the performers
by the house-owner, and in an hour the
performance was repeated. This is a kind
of blessing, and is said to insure good luck
to the household for the ensuing year.

On the night of the fourth everybody
went out to the fiesta grounds, where two
booths, made of the wood of the saguaro
cactus, semicircular in form and about 100
feet apart, had been built. In each of
these, at short intervals, two men having

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INDIAN NOTES

DAVIS— PAPAGO CEREMONY

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KIA'HAD ("RAINBOW"), WHO RELATED THE LEGEND OF
THE MONSTER

VIKITA CEREMONY

167

masks crowned with feathers on their heads
and carrying in their hands wands decor-
ated with bunches of eagle-feathers on each
end and in the middle, danced all night oppo-
site each other, singing at the same time in
a falsetto voice. After dancing for five or
ten minutes the men discarded their masks
and wands, and rested for a like period.

About midnight, the old man who had
entire charge delivered a speech in which
he said that " Montezuma" had given this
ceremony to the people and desired it to be
continued, at the same time urging the
young men to learn it, as but few of the
old men remained who understood the
legend and the ceremony.

Before sunrise on the morning of the fifth,
the people dressed in holiday clothes and
went out to the fiesta grounds to witness
the opening of the principal day. In the
booths preparations were being made behind
improvised curtains, and as the sun rose,
the principal figures, robed in red blankets
with girdles of shells and bells, and wearing
masks crowned with eagle-feathers, went
forward to the singers' booth, about 300

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PAPAGO

feet to the west, accompanied by assistants
robed in blankets, cut poncho-style, with
bare arms and legs painted white. There
were three assistants to each group, and as
they advanced they sprinkled libations of
cornmeal from small clam-shells that each
held in the left hand. The masked men
carried wands, about four feet long, decor-
ated with bunches of eagle-plumes fastened
to each end and in the middle. Each plume
was fastened with sinew to a deerskin thong,
and these were tied in bunches. The assist-
ants wore gray blankets and turbans made
of red bandanas, and carried shells of corn-
meal. The meal which figures in the cere-
mony is made only from corn that grows in
double or twin ears. In the turbans were
inserted four eagle-feathers attached to
short sticks. Above the feet of each
man were fastened deerskin anklets, cir-
cled with small rattles of tough cocoons
filled with fine sand. As they neared the
singers' booths they crossed on each side,
then turned and came back to the booth
from which they had started, and took off
their ceremonial robes. In the singers'

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INDIAN NOTES

DAVIS— PAPAGO CEREMONY

NATIVE WOMEN OF QUITOVAQUITA

VIKITA CEREMONY

169

booth sat four men, facing east, having in
front of them large, bowl-shaped, coiled
baskets, inverted. On the bottoms of the
baskets rested the ends of a notched stick
made of creosote wood, the other end being
held in the left hand of the singer. In the
right hand of each singer was held the half
of a lower jaw of a peccary, a deer's shoul-
der-blade, and the shin-bones of a deer with
the hoofs on. With these bones the singers
rubbed the notched sticks up and down,
producing thereby a hollow sound to the
rhythm of the singing.

Immediately behind the singers sat an
old Indian woman, her head wrapped in a
red bandana, as the guardian of the basket
containing the heart. The basket was 4|
ft. long, 1J ft. wide, and 1 ft. deep, and was
placed on a low platform behind her, and
level with her shoulders. The series of
songs or cantos dealt with the sun, moon,
stars, the earth, creation, and the culture-
hero "Montezuma." As the singers chant,
the older Indians think they can hear a
woman's voice, and say, "The heart is call-
ing for its mate." The three priests from

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P A P A G 0

each booth must neither eat nor drink from
sunrise to sunset, during the time of the
ceremony, nor relieve themselves during
that period. Four times, at noon, dry
pinole and water are held under their noses,
but they must not touch either of them.
The four singers and the woman guardian
may have water, but no food; neither may
they leave their posts to relieve bodily
discomforts, from sunrise to sunset.

Any of the men or boys may don the cere-
monial costumes and march, two at a time,
to the spot near the singers' booths, where
they dance and sing twice, and then, return-
ing, sing once while in the booth, and once
before retiring from it, making four times
in all, for four is the ceremonial number of
the Papago. Anything done once must be
repeated four times before it is completed.

The two men in costumes and masks
always sang and stamped opposite each
other, and made the same motions with the
ceremonial eagle-wands. Each party took
about ten or twelve minutes from the time
the assistants fastened on the ceremonial
costumes until they were removed. Usually

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VIKITA CEREMONY

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an old man and a novice went in together,
the older man taking the lead in singing and
stamping. Some extended the arms straight
out with wands held vertically in the middle,
which they raised and lowered rhythmic-
ally; others held them horizontally with
both hands, raising and lowering them like
dumbbells; some held them horizontally at
their sides, working them up and down over
the shoulders; others held them by the ends,
swinging them from side to side.

After the first song, the leading priest
started out of the booth to the left, and, as
he went, sprinkled some of the sacred meal.
Next came the leading dancer, then his
companion, then the other two priests, who
also scattered meal. They then proceeded in
single-file to the spot near the singers'
booth, where they danced. The head-priest
punched a hole in the ground with his toe,
and with a ceremonial swing of the arm drop-
ped some meal. The head-dancer stepped
on this meal. Then the priest advanced,
punched another hole opposite the north,
in which he sprinkled some sacred meal,
and then the head-dancer stepped on this,

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P A P A G 0

while the second dancer stepped on the
first-placed meal. Next the head-priest
punched a hole at the south and dropped a
pinch of meal, and the first dancer hopped
on this while his companion stepped on the
meal opposite, to the north. In these posi-
tions they danced, and if they did not quite
step on the meal, the priests guided them.
After a few minutes the leader again shifted
the dancers, and they went through the same
motions. When the dance was finished they
marched in the same rotation back to their
booth, the leading priest sprinkling meal as
he turned the corner to enter. The two
priests bringing up the rear also sprinkled
meal as they turned into the booth. When
inside the booth the masked men danced
again and then disrobed.

About mid-afternoon two clowns entered,
one from each booth, each wearing a deer-
skin mask and a ragged strip of deerskin
over the shoulder, and carrying a new bow
and arrow. They went around the fiesta
grounds as if hunting, and in pantomime
they found tracks, followed them up, and
stole upon the game; then one of them shot

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an arrow at it. The other went through
the motions of killing the game by smashing
the skull, and threw it over his shoulder.
Then they went in search of more tracks,
and in turn killed jackrabbits, deer, ante-
lope, and other game, one at a time.

When the banner was paraded, one man
carried a bush from which the clowns
appeared to pick things. These represented
large, fat, yellow worms, which in the spring
are sometimes found on bushes and are
eaten by the Indians. The clowns gath-
ered these in pantomime, and then built a
fire to roast and eat them. Four times the
banner was paraded about the ground. It
appeared to be a small square of white
sheeting, upon which was painted a crude
rainbow, clouds, and rain. Presumably it
was intended to bring rain or to prevent
drought. Late in the afternoon many of
the Indians, drunk from tizwin, staggered
about the ground.

At sunset the last of the ceremony took
place. The priests led the masked dancers
in front of the singers' booth, and there the
four masked men danced and sang; then all

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P APAGO

returned to their respective booths, while
the people crowded in and the priests
sprinkled meal, blessed all those in the
booths, and the fiesta was finished, except
the grand debauch.

The singers left the booths, and the old
woman picked up the basket containing the
sacred relic, balanced it on her head, and
later laid it on the roof of a ramada, near
the house where the tizwin was deposited.
The ceremonial articles were tied up in a
large bundle, carried to the same place, and
deposited near by. Here they were under
constant observation, and were perfectly
safe. The second day later they were to
be placed in their secret cave and sealed.

The night following the ceremony was
given over entirely to unrestricted drink-
ing, indulged in by the entire male popula-
tion. A peculiar custom is that some of
the young men, still able to walk, went
around to every Indian house and touched
every man on the shoulder with a stick of
saguaro wood — a summons to go to the
tizwin house and get drunk. This could
not be disregarded. The summons was

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INDIAN NOTES

VI KIT A CEREMONY

175

always accompanied with the ceremonial
phrase, " You are a good man when you are
drunk." Any man so summoned arose
immediately, found his way to the place of
debauchery, and drank. Often the men
would vomit, then proceed to drink again,
and this might happen several times during
the night. All drank, both men and boys,
until there was not a sober one in the
village.

Tizwin is the juice of the fruit of the
saguaro cactus, gathered in July, and is
boiled down to a syrup, then sealed up in
small ollas. A cloth is placed over the top,
tied down, and then plastered over with
mud, which is allowed to dry. Three days
before the fiesta is to end, the syrup is
placed in a number of large ollas, set in the
earth in a special house. Water is then
poured into the ollas until they are nearly
full, and a slow fire of mesquite sticks is
built in the center of the house. The
keeper, an old, dried-up Indian, then closes
the door, leaving the liquid to ferment.
The smouldering fire is kept alive for three
days and nights, and when the ceremony is

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P A P A G 0

over the liquor is ready to drink. If it is
not consumed when fully ripe, it becomes
water and loses its intoxicating qualities.
In color it is blood-red and tastes like sour
wine. There were nine large ollas in this
house, containing twelve to fourteen gal-
lons each, so that in all, about 120 gallons
must have been consumed.

The old keeper doled the liquor in small,
two-quart ollas, from which the Indians
drank, passing them from mouth to mouth
until all was consumed, and the ollas ready
to be refilled. The Indians claim that the
liquor is good for them, as it cleanses the
system either as an emetic or as a cathar-
tic. It was given to them by " Monte-
zuma, " together with the saguaro and other
desert products. During the drinking there
was neither quarreling nor fighting.

Within a quarter of a mile of Quito-
vaquita, at the place where the monster is
said to have perished, there appears to be
a great deposit of lime-like earth, and in
some places limestone. This doubtless
hides the skeletal remains of many large
prehistoric animals, since we there found

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VIKITA CEREMONY

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evidences of bones and teeth. We took up
some great molars that must have come
from a great vegetable eating animal, like
a mammoth or a mastodon. These were
excavated near the surface, where they had
been exposed to the weather, for they dis-
integrated when exposed. In digging a well
in this region the Indians told us that great
bones were found, as deep as they went.
This deposit of bones, no doubt, inspired
the legend of " Montezuma" * and the
monster.

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AND MONOGRAPHS

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